Carlos Alcaraz’s decision to withdraw with a right wrist injury has reshaped the clay season and left Jannik Sinner as the clear figure to beat. A year after saving three match points to beat Sinner in what the draft calls the best final in Roland Garros history, Alcaraz said that a right wrist injury will keep him from defending his crown.

The immediate consequence is Sinner standing alone at the top. His win streak extended from 17 to 18, and he holds the No. 1 ranking, which he seized from Alcaraz in Monte Carlo. Sinner sits a commanding 8,000 points ahead of the next active player, Alexander Zverev, and he has no points to defend in Madrid while Alcaraz will be absent for Rome and Paris. The possibility now exists that Sinner could win Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros by mid-June.

The season had promised a sustained duel. Alcaraz began the year with 16 straight wins and the Australian Open, while Sinner followed with 18 straight victories and the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells and Miami. They met at the season’s first clay Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, where Sinner won a competitive two-set final.

No one in the Top 10 appears ready to step fully into Alcaraz’s shoes as Sinner’s main rival. Excluding the also-absent Novak Djokovic, the rest of the Top 10 are a combined 15-53 against Sinner. Still, several players could fill the vacuum and test Sinner on clay.

Arthur Fils, fresh from a Barcelona title, is a new threat and has only faced Sinner once. Young players such as Rafael Jodar and Joao Fonseca, both 19, can rise in Alcaraz’s absence. Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli and Andrey Rublev remain dangerous on clay; Musetti lost to Alcaraz in the Rome and Roland Garros semifinals last year, and Rublev and Cobolli reached finals in Barcelona and Munich this spring.

The Americans should benefit too. Last year Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe both reached Roland Garros quarterfinals but neither could get past Alcaraz, who eliminated Paul and Ben Shelton. Novak Djokovic, depending on health and priorities, may gain the biggest advantage since Alcaraz blocked his bid for a 25th major at the Australian Open earlier this year.

Sinner, however, still must play the matches and manage the internal pressure. As the draft notes, he may feel “here’s my chance, I better not blow it.” On Friday in Madrid, the same day Alcaraz announced his withdrawals, Sinner dropped the first set to Benjamin Bonzi.

Jannik Sinner recovered from a first-set loss to defeat Benjamin Bonzi 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4 and advance at the Mutua Madrid Open. The victory marked his 18th consecutive win and continued a 23-match run at the Masters 1000 level dating back to the Rolex Paris Masters last fall.

“I struggled quite a lot here, but I knew this before the match that these are very unique courts and conditions,” Sinner said on court after the match. “But I believe every day is different and can make a big difference. I know this, so I can improve slightly for the next round. I tried to stay calm mentally, and that’s why I won today. Tennis-wise, we’ll try to improve. I have one day off, so I’ll use it in a positive way, and we’ll see how far I can go.”

Sinner began his bid to become the first man to claim five straight Masters 1000 titles and did so without a chief rival expected to compete in the remainder of the clay swing. Carlos Alcaraz announced plans to withdraw from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and Roland Garros because of a wrist injury, a development that opens a clearer path at Madrid and beyond.

“At the moment, I’m trying to figure out how to play here on this surface,” Sinner said of the possible “Djokemon.”

“We go day by day and we see how it goes. It’s, of course, I know what’s on the line, but at the same time, I don’t focus on this. We know what we have to do. We try to go as far as we can but at the same time, I look at my body and see how it feels. Then, we see what’s coming.”

Against the in-form French qualifier, Sinner surrendered a tight first set after a missed set point in the tiebreak but dominated the second. He secured a crucial break early in the deciding set and served out the match on his first opportunity. The contest lasted two hours and 20 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

Sinner has now won every Grand Slam and Masters 1000 event except Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros. With Alcaraz absent, the Italian can pursue a haul that would leave him one of the few to have claimed all 13 Masters titles, a list last completed by Novak Djokovic.

Carlos Alcaraz has announced he will sit out the rest of the clay-court season to recover from a right-wrist injury that forced an early end to his Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell campaign last week. The world No. 2 withdrew from his home tournament in Madrid for further evaluation before arriving at this decision.

The injury denies Alcaraz the opportunity to pursue a three-peat at Roland Garros, where he had delivered consecutive five-set final wins in Paris. He also entered the clay swing as the reigning Internazionali BNL d’Italia champion, having defeated Jannik Sinner in both 2025 blockbuster finals.

“After the results of the tests carried out today, we have decided that the most prudent thing to do is to be cautious and not participate in Rome or Roland Garros as we wait to evaluate the progress so we can decide when to return to the court,” Alcaraz wrote on social media. “This is a difficult time for me, but I am sure we will come out of it stronger.”

Alcaraz had begun the year on a 16-match win streak and became the youngest man in history to complete a Career Grand Slam following his Australian Open triumph. His withdrawal from the French Open now alters the dynamics of the clay season and the race for major titles on the surface.

With Alcaraz sitting out, the decision also has implications for rivals. The move strengthens Jannik Sinner’s chances of finishing his own Career Slam, a prospect noted in coverage of the developing clay calendar.

The Spaniard and his team will monitor recovery and testing to determine a return date. For now, the emphasis is on rest and rehabilitation as Alcaraz pauses his campaign on clay to prioritise long-term fitness.